this looks very much like the existing Wipro facility at Sholinganallur.. are you sure its the new one?

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The Netherlands-based Norit, suppliers of consumables, components, systems and complete water purification solution, including Production and Sales of Membrane Products for Microfiltration Ultrafiltration, Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis has opened its first office in India At Chennai.

New Delhi, Aug. 28 Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) is set to bring in Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) as partner for its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and re-gasification terminal at Ennore, Tamil Nadu. The company’s board which met on Monday gave its nod to the proposal.

Sources told Business Line that armed with the board’s approval the company will now work out details of a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Based on the MoU framework, IOC and PLL will sketch out the details of a joint venture. IOC wanted PLL on board for the project mainly to draw from Petronet’s experience in sourcing LNG.

Meanwhile, IOC has also been pursuing various suppliers for long-term LNG supply, which is a major deciding factor for success of such projects.

The project is estimated to cost about Rs 3,500 crore. The proposed capacity of the terminal is 2.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa), which subsequently would be raised to 5 mtpa. Sources said the project would be a 50:50 venture between IOC and PLL.

The Ennore project is jointly promoted by IOC and its subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL).

Petronet, according to sources, was also looking for expanding the role of the venture to certain downstream activities in the related areas. At present, the country has two LNG terminals — PLL’s 6.5 mtpa terminal at Dahej, Gujarat, and Shell’s 2.5 mtpa Hazira terminal. Another 5 mtpa terminal is coming up at Dabhol. Petronet is also constructing an LNG terminal in Kochi.

The Airports Authority of India has chosen plans by a team of architects including Frederic Schwartz Architects, Hargreaves Associates, Gensler, and New Delhi-based Creative Group to expand the Chennai International Airport’s domestic and international terminals. When completed in 2010, the $300 million project will transform Chenai, located in the city formerly known as Madras, into India’s greenest airport.

The Kamraj Domestic Terminal, in particular, will showcase sustainable technologies. The 23-year-old building currently measures 139,931 square feet and handles 4.74 million passengers a year. Its revamped design will allow it to accommodate twice as many passengers in a three-story structure 984 feet long, encompassing some 781,460 square feet.

The organization of security and circulation forms the basis of the plan, which centers around two lush, ecologically sustainable gardens measuring nearly an acre apiece. “These gardens are visible throughout the terminal creating a unique dialogue between interior and exterior spaces,” says Frederic Schwartz, who together with Creative Group was also recently awarded the commission to design a new terminal at India’s Raipur airport, in the country’s central region.

A parking garage with a green roof will create what the designers describe as a “green gate” to the terminal. “The folding geometry of the green roof captures and directs rain water during the rain season to the elliptical openings in the roof, creating shimmering ‘rain curtains’ as the water falls through the garage to cisterns below. This stored water is later used during the dry season to irrigate the green roof and maximize the site’s sustainable resources.”

Gurpreet Shah, a Creative Group principal, notes that rain harvesting is mandated by Indian law. But Chennai’s decision to go green was largely a voluntary one. Although the country is working to adopt the LEED rating system, the program will not cover airports. “We are conscious about it and will try to incorporate as much [sustainable technology] as we can,” Shah says.

The revamped Kamraj Domestic Terminal will feature what designers describe as a “green gate”: a parking garage with a green roof and rainwater capture systems. Two one-acre gardens will form a central element within the terminal (top). The terminal’s wing-like curved roof is supported on large, full-height columns. The forward slope of these elements will work with the stiffness of the trusses to resist transverse wind and seismic forces. Along the building’s 984-foot length, the V-shaped configuration of support columns will work integrally with a compression truss to create a repetitive series of stable triangulated elements to resist longitudinal forces. Large, arching space-frame trusses will allow for column-free public spaces on both the landside and airside terminal areas. Expansive glass curtain walls will boost the feeling of airiness and spaciousness, as will skylights (above).

In a relief to Dunlop India Ltd., in its tussle with real estate developer VGN Enterprises over 'encroachment' of eight acres of land at its premies, a sub-divisional Magistrate has ordered restoration of the land to Dunlop, according to a company release.

The press release quoting the recent order of the court of the Sub-divisional Magistrate said," M/S VGN Enterprises, represented by V N Devadoss has forcibly and wrongfully dispossessed the position of Dunlop India Ltd on July 30, 2007. I therefore u/s 145 (4) CrPC order that the possession of the above lands shall be restored to M/S Dunlop India Ltd."

The problem over the possession of the land arose after VGN Enterprises cleared a part of the eight acre land for construction. VGN had claimed that they had bought the land under the BIFR process from the erstwhile Dunlop management.

Can anyone read that and convey the salient features to the forumers? I would do it, but it might be a few months before I finish reading.

Chennai stripped of its 'hoarding city' title

Quote:

It’s known as the city of hoardings. But Chennai may soon be stripped of its title, literally so.

The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday ordered immediate removal of all hoardings in the state, much to the displeasure of many.

"In the hoarding industry, nearly one lakh families depend on this business, so definitely one lakh families will be thrown out of their jobs,” says President Tamil Nadu Outdoor Advertising Association, AG Nayagam.

The hoarding industry is one of Chennai’s biggest with each hoarding fetching close to Rs 18 lakh every year. Which means the nearly 5,000 hoardings in the city generate around Rs 900 crore a year, while the government collects Rs three per square feet as display tax

But as it happens, several hoardings in the city are illegal and the administration has been trying to regularise them for quite a while now.

“Hoardings definitely need regulation in the city, but I am not sure taking them out is a solution for this. They must try and implement regulation so that it becomes a much more organised sector," says President, Media Direction, Satyanarayan.

A case related to hoardings is pending in the Supreme Court, which has issued a stay order. Legal experts say the state government may have actually jumped the gun by banning hoardings.

A mall and multiplex wave is set to sweep across Chennai, with over 20 malls planned in the next three years.

The city, where India’s first mall, Spencer Plaza, was set up in 1975, is expected to absorb over Rs 3,000 crore in the coming years.

Realty majors such as Prestige Group, Shriram Properties and DLF are in the forefront of mall development in the city and beyond.

Bangalore-based Prestige is drawing up plans for a second Forum mall in the city’s artery, Mount Road, while completing the first Rs 350-crore Forum mall at Vadapalani in Chennai, in collaboration with Vijaya Group.

The Vadapalani mall, spread over 17 lakh square feet, will feature a seven-screen multiplex, over 100 shops, two departmental stores, a 1,40,000 square feet hypermarket. The mall is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2010.

“Vadapalani is a large residential catchment area, which is well connected by two important roads – Arcot Road and Nehru Road. Footfalls in this important location in the heart of the city will be higher compared to other areas,” said Muhammed Ali, DGM (mall leasing), Prestige Group.

While over the last year and a half, the attention of developers was focused on the residential sector, the feverish activity being raked up on the commercial and retail fronts is seen as a logical extension.

These have increased the demand for mall space even in areas such as Aminjikarai, Besant Nagar, Velachery, Mogappair, Sirusseri, Semmenchery and Perambur.

While Allied Housing & Development is planning a seven lakh square feet mall at Sirusseri on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai’s IT corridor, Ozone Group’s 14 lakh square feet Ozone Mall is coming up at its integrated township Metro Zone in Anna Nagar.

Company showrooms are expected to take up at least 90 per cent of the floor area in these malls, where the standard rentals are Rs 12-15 per square feet. This works out cheaper for companies, which would otherwise have to lease dedicated spaces at Rs 50-60 per square feet in retail hotbeds of the city like T-Nagar, Nungambakkam and Anna Nagar.

“While office rentals in the city are still on the higher side, they may not be attracted to rent spaces in malls. Malls are dedicated retail spaces, but it remains to be seen if the demand exists in Chennai,” cautioned Abdur Ravoof, a partner with Property Care.

But the action is on. River Side, a jumbo mall at Karapakkam near Chennai, when completed in the fourth quarter of 2008, would take up 11 lakh square feet of built-up space, including a mammoth parking area, according to industry sources. The mall is being set up at a cost of Rs 500 crore, with a Rs 100-crore loan from HUDCO. Marg Constructions, the project developer who has invested Rs 50 crore, is on the lookout for strategic investors to raise Rs 100 crore, and hopes to raise the rest through a mixture of debt and equity.

According to G R K Reddy, managing director, Marg Constructions, 30 per cent of the space at the new mall has already been booked. “The demand for organised retail in Chennai has been growing by leaps and bounds. Karapakkam is a good strategic location for our retail operations,” Reddy said.

Industry sources said the Fame Adlabs theatre chain, owned by Mumbai-based Shringar Cinemas, would start its south India operations with a four-screen multiplex at River Side.

Satyam, Inox and PVR, which have been operating theatre chains in Chennai, are likely to increase their footprint through these malls, along with new entrants such as Cinemax and Fame. While PVR is planning screens at the four lakh square feet Ampa Mall, Satyam is known to have leased space at the upcoming eight lakh square feet Express Mall, coming up on land formerly owned by Indian Express Group (Madurai). Westside is planning to set up flagship stores at both these malls once they become operational in mid-2008.